Press Release

For Immediate Release

Eight Attorneys Named to 2018 Super Lawyers List; Six to Rising Stars

For Immediate Release

Debra Scala Giokas
Director of Marketing
516.296.7087
dscala@certilmanbalin.com


September 13, East Meadow, NY – We are pleased to announce that Lisa S. Hunter, M. Allan Hyman, Donna-Marie Korth, Jaspreet S. Mayall, Thomas J. McNamara. Douglas E. Rowe, Howard M. Stein and Paul B. Sweeney have been named to the 2018 New York Metro Super Lawyers list, and Rebecca L. Brodsky, Heather L. Gauweiler, Kimberly A. Klein, Daniel Palmadesso, Rebecca Sklar, and Nicholas Venditto were named to the 2018 Rising New York Metro Stars list. Ms. Hunter and Ms. Korth were also named to the Women’s Edition.

The honor recognizes top lawyers in their respective areas of practice. The review and selection process includes a statewide nomination process, peer review by practice area and independent candidate research. Due to the highly rigorous nature of the nomination and review process, only five percent of lawyers in the New York metro area are named to the list. Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a research-driven peer influenced rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made based upon peer nominations, independent research by Super Lawyers, and evaluations from a highly credentialed panel of attorneys.

Lisa S. Hunter (Merrick), a Partner in and Co-Chair of the Trusts and Estates and Elder Law Practice Groups, concentrates in all aspects of trusts, estates, tax, and succession planning, primarily for high net worth individuals. A member of the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County and the New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations, Ms. Hunter serves on the Tax Law and Surrogate’s Court, Estates and Trusts Committees of the Nassau County Bar Association. Ms. Hunter received her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and her Juris Doctor from Villanova University, where she served as an editor of the Law Review. She also holds the degree of Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University. She is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association.

M. Allan Hyman (Sands Point) is a senior partner and practices in the firm’s litigation, real estate tax certiorari, and condemnation law departments. He has successfully obtained millions of dollars of tax refunds and savings for clients during his 50 year professional career. Additionally, his practice focuses on representing both claimants and condemnors in eminent domain proceedings throughout the State of New York and other jurisdictions. A graduate of Syracuse University, B.A., Mr. Hyman also holds a Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York State and before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, and serves on the Tax Certiorari and Condemnation law, Supreme Court, and Commercial Litigation committees of the Nassau County Bar Association.

Donna-Marie Korth (Rockville Centre) is a Partner in the Commercial, Banking and Real Estate Litigation Practice Group, and is a Certified Mediator. She concentrates in all aspects of commercial and real estate litigation, all land use issues, appellate practice, commercial foreclosure, lending litigation, guardianship proceedings, and previously concentrated in cooperative/condominium law. In addition, as a trained mediator, Ms. Korth is able to mediate a wide variety of civil disputes pre or post-litigation. She was appointed to serve on the Commercial Mediation Panel in Nassau County Supreme Court, Hurricane Sandy Mediation Panel in Eastern District of the United States District Court, Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel of the Nassau County Bar Association, and serves on the ADR Advisory Council of the Nassau County Bar Association. Ms. Korth graduated, magna cum laude, from St. John’s University with an undergraduate degree in accounting and graduated, with honors, from that University’s School of Law. She is admitted to practice in New York State and before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the United States Supreme Court.  She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and Nassau County Bar Association.

Jaspreet S. Mayall (Dix Hills) is a Partner in the Telecommunications Group and Debtor/Creditor Rights and Bankruptcy Group. He provides daily counsel to master wholesalers and retailers of wireless products and services, handling their agreements and negotiations with their wireless providers. He also counsels these clients on mergers, acquisitions, joint venture agreements, OEM agreements, retails leases, daily transactions and issues, as well as matters requiring litigation. He is known nationally as the go-to person in the telecommunications industry, and wholesalers and retailers of the master carriers have come to count on Mr. Mayall’s expertise in helping them in their business transactions. Mr. Mayall earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1988 and his Juris Doctorate from the Hofstra University School of Law in 1991.

Thomas McNamara’s (Port Washington) practice encompasses a broad range of commercial litigation and arbitration, including issues related to banking, creditors’ rights, contracts, business divorce, real estate, employment, trade secrets, trust and estates, and insurance, as well as corporate, securities, shareholder, partnership, and antitrust matters. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, where he majored in economics, and earned his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1980.

Douglas E. Rowe (Atlantic Beach) is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group. He brings to the firm a broad range of expertise in labor and employment law, including claims alleging discrimination based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, age and disability, as well as sexual harassment, wage and hour issues, labor arbitrations, and defense of employment-related claims under federal and state statutes. In 1981, he earned his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland. Mr. Rowe is a member of the New York and Nassau County Bar Associations.

Howard M. Stein (Commack) is Managing Partner of the Real Estate Practice Group where he concentrates on matters related to real property acquisitions, development, sales, leasing, real estate finance and loan workouts. He represents a wide range of clients from closely held businesses to public companies in structuring complicated transactions for retail, industrial, office, hotel and residential developments. Mr. Stein is a 1975 graduate of the University of Rochester where he now serves as a member of their George Eastman Circle and earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York and has achieved the highest rating by Martindale HubbellHe is also a member of the Nassau County Bar Association.

Paul B. Sweeney (Glen Cove) is a Partner in the Litigation Practice Group  and represents clients in a broad range of commercial litigation matters before state, federal and appellate courts. He is well-versed in the following areas of law: contracts, securities, accountant’s liability, legal malpractice, trade secrets, intellectual property, antitrust and class actions. Mr. Sweeney has handled numerous cases involving issues of corporate governance in which he represented corporate officers and directors, as well as members of limited liability companies. He has also represented clients in employment matters concerning the enforcement of restrictive covenants and discrimination claims. He earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 1992 and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont in 1987. In addition, Mr. Sweeney achieved the highest rating by Martindale Hubbell. From 2013 through 2017, Mr. Sweeney was named consecutively to the New York Metro Super Lawyers list.

Rising Stars

The selection process for the Rising Stars list is the same as the Super Lawyers selection process, with one exception: to be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less. All attorneys first go through the Super Lawyers selection process. Those who are not selected to the Super Lawyers list, but who meet either one of the Rising Stars eligibility requirements, go through the Rising Stars selection process. While up to five percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.

Rebecca L. Brodsky (Sands Point) is an associate in the Real Estate Practice Group. She represents clients in both commercial and residential transactions and has experience with the closings of single family homes, cooperative apartments and condominiums, along with commercial property and construction loans. Ms. Brodsky earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Heather L. Gauweiler  (Seaford) is an associate in the Banking and Commercial Lending Department and concentrates on the representation of institutional and private lenders in all aspects of complex commercial real estate transactions and asset-based lending. She has extensive experience in structuring, negotiating and documenting a wide variety of financing arrangements to middle market and small business borrowers, including mortgage loans (both permanent and construction financings), revolving credit and term loan facilities, interest rate swap transactions, letter of credit transactions, government guaranteed loans offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 and 7(a) loan programs and governmentally assisted financing arrangements commonly utilized in project development financings. Mrs. Gauweiler earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in sociology from SUNY Cortland in 2005. She earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Hofstra University School of Law in 2008.

Daniel R. Palmadesso (Valley Stream) is an Associate in the Corporate/Securities Practice Group. He has broad experience across a variety of corporate transactional practices, including capital markets, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, with a particular emphasis on securities law, including matters involving public and private offerings, periodic reporting, and corporate governance. He graduated from University of Michigan Law School in 2009, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 2006.

Kimberly A. Klein (Huntington) is an associate in the Banking/Commercial Lending Practice Group. Her practice concentrates on the representation of lenders in financing commercial real estate properties, varying from middle market to small business loans, including government guaranteed loans offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 and 7(a) loan programs. Ms. Klein earned her Juris Doctor and a Certificate in Environmental Law, cum laude, from Pace University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Rebecca R. Sklar (Manhattan) is an Associate in the Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Practice Group. Rebecca’s practice primarily focuses on real estate valuation.  She represents property owners in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, as well as in upstate New York, who are seeking reductions in their properties’ assessed valuations.  Rebecca also represents both condemnees and condemnors  in Eminent Domain proceedings. She earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Hofstra University School of Law in 2013. A 2009 graduate of Binghamton University, Ms. Sklar earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Spanish.

Nicholas Venditto (Massapequa) is a Partner in the Corporate/Securities Practice Group. Prior to joining Certilman Balin, Mr. Venditto spent six years as an associate in the Corporate Group of an international law firm on Wall Street. Mr. Venditto’s practice focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions involving privately held companies, complex joint ventures, corporate governance matters and other general corporate matters. He earned his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2008, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, summa cum laude, from Hofstra University in 2005.

For further information, please visit SuperLawyers.com and the attorneys’ biographies on certilmanbalin.com.

Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP has grown into Long Island’s second largest full-service law firm with offices in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Its 15 practice areas include: real estate, real property tax certiorari and condemnation, cooperative and condominium, land use, environmental law, corporate/securities, litigation, commercial lending, labor relations/employment law, bankruptcy and debtor/creditor rights, nonprofit/tax exempt and religious organizations, trusts and estates, elder law, telecommunications law, and criminal law.